If Nelson Piquet Jr. shied away from using the word validation to describe his trip to Victory Lane at Road America last weekend, it might be because there is no one term to sum up the layers of emotion behind his milestone triumph.

Yes, he became the first Brazilian to win a race in one of NASCAR's national series and yes, the former Formula One driver now has concrete proof he can make the daunting transition from the open-wheel ranks.

More than all the obvious accolades that came with his win in the Nationwide Series road course test in Wisconsin last Saturday, Piquet took the most solace in knowing he not only has chosen the right path for his career, but is traveling down it in an ideal manner.

Though he is still seeking his first win in NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series, where he is in his second full season, the son of former three-time F-1 champion Nelson Piquet is carrying a whole new bag of confidence into Thursday night's UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

In just his third career start in the Nationwide Series, Piquet's extensive road course knowledge gave him a leg up over NASCAR veterans as he won the pole and led the most laps during the race. While the 26-year-old admits he still needs to hone his ability over ovals like Sparta's 1.5 mile track, his goal of battling for a Truck Series championship is now realistic, especially given his mind set.

"It was an amazing feeling. I mean, it's difficult even to describe how good it felt," Piquet said of his win during a national teleconference this week. "I mean, for sure, it's a road course and it's what I've done my whole career, but still to come from open wheels and coming over to NASCAR and a track I've never been racing and a car I've never raced on a road course, it gave a lot of confidence for me and the team.

"It showed how strong and how capable we are, even against Cup teams."

NASCAR has been littered with established open-wheel drivers who have tried to make the jump to stock cars — Danica Patrick being the latest and most high-profile attempt.

What Piquet hopes will help him eventually join the ranks of Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya as success stories instead of struggling like Patrick and three-time IndyCar champion Sam Hornish Jr. is the fact he embraces the difficulty of the learning curve.

As much as every driver wants to become a force at the top level, Piquet knows that isn't going to happen if he tries to rush his development. Thus, he views his time in the Truck Series — where he is currently sixth in the standings just 38 points out of the lead — as an invaluable teaching tool.

"I think there's no other way of doing it than how I've done it, coming into Truck and building myself up," Piquet said. "A lot of drivers think that just because they run in a top sport like IndyCar they think they can just jump into NASCAR and run against Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch ... but these guys have been doing this for decades.

"You need to realize that you can have won a championship for IndyCar, whatever it was, but when you get to a different sport, you have to start from whatever your level is. And my level at the moment is kind of a Truck level. But a lot of drivers have a lot of ego, and think they should go to Sprint Cup or maybe think that the series is not tough enough."

Piquet's perception has been shaped in part because he has already endured the lowest of lows. In 2009, Piquet was released from his Renault Formula One team and was later found to be part of one of that sport's great scandals.

A subsequent investigation revealed that in 2008, Piquet was ordered by Renault to deliberately crash during a race in Singapore in order to bring out a caution that helped teammate Fernando Alonso win. That move resulted in Renault being handed a two-year suspension from F-1 and team manager Flavio Briatore being banned from the sport.

Piquet won a libel case against Renault in 2010 and made a fresh start with his rookie Truck Series year in 2011. As his triumph at Road America proved, the more Piquet distances himself from his current rivals the more he puts his infamy behind him.

"What could have happened (for him in F-1)? I don't know. Anything could have happened," Piquet said. "But, you know, it's just being in the right place at the right time. It didn't happen for me, but maybe it's happening now."

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